A Life Run by Secrets
by Ferret 3136
Summary: Luke Thynne is the new boy at school, the secrets of his parents' running his new life at Hogwarts. Perhaps healing the scars of his parents' untimely death is actually causing more. Rated T, just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: No, you all know that I do NOT own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. Err, JK Rowling.

**Summary**: I really haven't decided yet... but it's quite interesting so far.

Luke Thynne is the new boy at school, the secrets of his parents' running his new life at Hogwarts. Perhaps healing the scars of his parents' untimely death is actually causing more.

** > > > > > >**

Luke Thynne sat in the backseat of a muggle vehicle scowling. On his lap a silver Egyptian Mau sat, delicately licking a paw. She paused for a moment, and looked up at Luke, her light-green eyes blinking. Luke sighed and began to pet her.

Everything had gone wrong so far. Death had visited the Thynne family and it killed Luke, but not in the literal sense like his parents. Orphaned and angry at Voldemort (had it not been his parents who supplied eager supporters?), Luke nervously tapped on the side-panel of the car, glaring out at the city streets. In the trunk of the car was not a dead body, but his heavy trunk of belongings. At the moment his guardian was his insane grandmother, the only relative that he had found in the month passed. She lived far away from all civilization and it was another three hours until he reached her home. But good thing he was only staying for a week before leaving for a whole new school. Government officials at the ministry had decided a new school would heal the "scars" of his parents untimely death. There really weren't any scars, Luke was just surprised they had died so early. He knew one way or another his parents would have been killed by either Voldemort or the ministry, they were just unlucky. At the moment he was scowling because he was headed to a place he would loathe for the next two years until he could finally leave to live on his own. He was also scowling because he would be going to a school that _didn't_ master in the Dark Arts and that has that blasted Dumbledore as headmaster.

Of course he assumed it wouldn't be overly _too_ bad. New school, new people, new home, new life... it almost seemed too good, in a way... great. Luke loved having the attention set on him and he wouldn't mind it having on him in any way. At the moment all he cared was that he was getting away from all of his old troubles and into some fun. Who knew what types of things he would get into at Hogwarts? But the subject matter on his mind fell quickly as his head fell forward to his chest, and he fell asleep, one hand resting on the side-panel of the car and the other on his cat, her eyes delicately closed.

Two hours later Luke was disappointed to see that he wasn't woken up to get into the little cottage, but for a minor emergency. Apparently the car had broken down and Luke had to wait for a taxi as the driver fiddled with the engine. He dragged the suitcase out of the trunk with one arm and in the other he carried Kanika, who growled unhappily at being moved.

Apparently they were going through an unusually large neighborhood with neat, trim lawns and small flowerbeds in the front of each yard. It was dark outside, a moonless night, but that was made up with the fact that every twenty or so feet a streetlamp stood, casting a soft glow upon the silent street. Only a few lights were on, one of which was at the house they were in front of. Luke peered over a hedge to see a very narrow woman peering her head out the window at him. He smirked as he waved at her, and she popped her head back inside of her house. He laughed slightly as he scratched Kanika's head, who growled and scratched at him before rolling off of his lap and trotting away to hide. Luke watched her go, knowing that she'd come back, Kanika was trained to not go too far. Luke looked back at the house, noticing that the remaining light had been turned off. From the window on the second floor a bird flew away.

Luke did a double-take. Was it an _owl_ that just flew out of the window? He followed the bird as it flew up into the sky. It _was_ an owl, a beautiful snowy owl, and from Luke's vantage point, he could tell that it was carrying a fairly large package. He looked back up at the window to see a face lit up by the streetlamps disappear into the darkness of the room and the window clutter shut.

Luke shrugged. He really shouldn't have been surprised, witches and wizards were always in unusual places. He, too, was in an unusual place. He turned to face the taxi which had just pulled up. Too bad his Grandmother hated the Knight Bus, otherwise he would have already been at her house.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look nothing at all like your parents?"

Luke stared up at his grandmother, shaking his head. She was a thin, elderly woman, nearing her late seventies. He could clearly tell which side of the family she was from. She looked like his mother used to, except for her hair was short and curly and white, instead of the bright red his mother's hair was. His grandmother had mystic blue eyes, a straight nose (although he did notice a slight crack in it), thin lips, and a small chin. She represented what his mother could have become later in life.

"I'm dead serious, dear, how did you get black hair? I know your father had light brown... or perhaps blonde, I don't remember... or do I?" Luke watched her rest a wrinkled hand on her chin and ponder. "Oh well... I suppose I don't know. What color hair was your father's?"

Luke moved his breakfast around on his plate with his fork, staring at the eggs as the yokes broke and thick yellow liquid poured over the thin white egg. "Dirty blonde."

"And you ended up with black. I know when your brother was born his hair was red, like your mother's. It devastated me when my first grandson died when he was only five." She took a sip of her orange juice. "I felt so horrible, especially when your sister died when she was less than two months old... her hair was blonde, wasn't it?" Luke nodded, once again playing with his food. "I was so proud when your mother finally could keep a child alive." For the first time that morning she noticed he was disinterested in the conversation. "Hmm, perhaps we should go to Diagon Alley today?"

Luke shrugged. He was happy that his grandmother had moved away from the topic, otherwise he might have lost it and told everything about the connections with Voldemort his parents had. He finally took a bite of his over-easy eggs. "Well, we might as well get over with the trip."

"Well, I'll go get the floo powder."

Luke sighed. Now he remembered why he hated traveling with his grandmother. Floo powder. He loathed floo powder. He got up and set his half-eaten breakfast in the sink and stared out the window. His grandmother's house was by-far the nicest place in the neighborhood. He stared at a family of complete red-heads across the way whose house had to be at least five or six storeys. It looked like they were tossing gnomes out of their garden. He sighed again, but was interrupted when his grandmother placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Luke, we'll have to go with the Weasleys to Diagon Alley, Mr. Weasley told me they were going there this afternoon."

Luke groaned. The Weasleys! Didn't the father work in the Muggle Artifact Department in the Ministry? Hopefully he wouldn't be going to the same school as any of the blasted children. "But... Grandmother..."

"No buts, I ran out of floo powder, and they're OFFERING to let us use theirs. So why not spend the day there?"

Luke sighed and began to put on his shoes. Now he knew why his father was always referring to this woman as a lunatic. She knew nothing of anything! Going someplace with muggle-lovers or not using magic to do normal things? She was certainly old-fashioned. She never wanted to get caught doing anything magical, and neither did Luke, but not even using it to do the dishes or the laundry? Ridiculous. He brushed off the new pair of jeans his Grandmother had bought him (to be more muggle-like, she had said) and then slumped as he followed her out the door.

Apparently only the father of the Weasley family was a flaming imbecile, as far as Luke could tell. He ranted on and on about his job and new plans the house was going through. Supposedly they had won some money, and the Weasleys were putting it to good use to help renovate the house. It needed it, too, from what Luke could tell, the top storey had to be at least three feet further to the right than the bottom one and one Weasley child mentioned a ghoul living somewhere in there also. But most of what any of the Weasleys said was lost to mind because he didn't care. He already knew he wasn't going to be hanging around Ron or Ginny, the only two of the Weasleys that even went to Hogwarts, the twins had dropped out and the other three had graduated. Too bad he couldn't change the fact that they were neighbors.

He did notice who was walking around in Diagon Alley. Old friends of his father's and their sons and daughters, some of which he knew he would get to know in school, as an enemy, mainly. No one on the side of Voldemort got along, and even though Luke didn't agree with Voldemort, he resembled his personality, but perhaps a little less cruel and violent. And because his parents were huge supporters, people would assume that he was also. Rumors would spread and the whole school would know, making supporters his "friends" and the rest of them his enemies. He had been through it before.

Because this year the Weasleys had to clothe and supply only two children, they bought new robes. New dress robes, new regular robes, and Ginny even bought a cat. Figuring it didn't matter whether or not books were new, they still bought them used, but the gently used ones. Ron met up with a few of his friends, which Luke completely ignored, even though his ears perked up when he heard the last name Potter. The other girl, he could tell by the look on her parents' faces, was muggle-born. Luke did introduce himself, but neither of the two teenagers were interested in him, so he wandered off from the group to do something else.

He had already bought his robes, a new quill and ink set, new books, a collar for Kanika, more potions supplies, and some other knick-knacks. Overall it wasn't as much as he would have bought for his other school, and he could easily carry it all dangling from one hand. He sighed as his stomach grumbled and he looked around. There was an ice-cream shop... or perhaps he could go to the candy store around the corner. He felt so out of place, wearing jeans in a Wizarding place. He ducked into the ice-cream shop and set his bags down as he dug for money in his pocket.

"One small vanilla cone." He said, his voice slightly muffled as he dug for the money in his pocket. When he finally found the knuts he paid for the cone and picked up his bags, walking out of the shop while licking off some of the vanilla.

He glanced around, noticing that Ron and his two friends had wandered off themselves. He felt a large raindrop land on his arm and glared up at the sky. In a mere three minutes, the sky had become a dark gray and drops began to litter the cobblestone pathway. Someone bumped into him and his cone slipped out of his hand and onto the ground. "Bloody asshole, you should watch where you're going!" He yelled after the person, who was slowly disappearing in the crowd.

As the drops began to come down faster and heavier, he ducked underneath the awning of the ice-cream shop. He sighed, he certainly had messed up.

When he had finally found the Weasleys and his Grandmother, he was soaked. Someone had shoved him out from the group of people under the awning, and that had just lead to more disasters. He tripped and landed in a puddle, barely saving his packages, and after five minutes of being out there, it began to hail. The Weasleys and his Grandmother, though, were completely dry. They had taken refuge in a book store, and because they were with the original group, they didn't have to worry about finding anyone, like Luke had. Now his curly black hair was plastered on his forehead and his jeans were soaked, making it difficult to walk without being uncomfortable.

Lucky for him, none of his packages became ruined. His robes were slightly damp, but otherwise nothing bad had happened. Because everything required had been purchased and Luke was soaked to the bone, they decided to go home. Ron waved goodbye to Harry and Hermione, who both went their opposite directions, and then Luke and his Grandmother both flooed back to home.

Because of the incident at Diagon Alley, Luke had the excuse to stay in bed all day for the next three days, feigning illness, like when he had drunk a whole bottle of his Father's fire whiskey.

His Grandmother, being a simple woman, didn't notice that Luke didn't have a fever or the shakes. Instead, she made him soup and brought him old books from her library to read. Luke rather enjoyed staying in bed reading, even when the weather had become nice again, and other children in the neighborhood were playing outside. Besides, he already knew that he would try out for the Quidditch team once he had gotten to Hogwarts. He desired to be a great Quidditch player, and because his old school didn't have a team, he wanted to be placed badly.

So Luke stayed inside, playing the sick and injured grandson, liking the feel of manipulating a relative. Kanika looked good in her new collar, and glowered at him from the end of the bed. Luke had found the collar in an old shop, it was an antique, silver with green emeralds placed in equal intervals around it. The color of Kanika's fur and her eyes, a perfect match. Luke, bored with the old muggle novel, set it down and stared at the ceiling. It was another two days until they left for Hogwarts and sitting inside had become boring. He could hex his Grandmother... or he could go rummage through her stuff... But there was always the chance that she would invite that blasted Weasley over or make him go help them rid their garden (again) of gnomes.

He rolled over on the bed and stared out the window. The only books left in the house that he hadn't read were all muggle novels. Muggle novels full of unrealistic romance or adventure. Novels that Luke never touched. And his boredom... well, it forced him to think of things he could do. He sat up and began to stroke Kanika. She growled and snapped at his hand. He couldn't help it, outside the house had to be better than staying inside.

So, for the last two days before leaving for Hogwarts, Luke spent his time exploring the vast countryside around his Grandmother's house. He avoided the Weasleys at all costs and even managed to get on the roof of the house using the drainpipe. He even found a way to crawl into the attic from on the roof, the one place that his Grandmother had told him _never _to enter.

Surprisingly enough he found nothing that interested him. Mostly old clothes and artifacts. One afternoon he spent his whole time up there searching for some old book of dark arts that his Grandmother might have hidden up there. But there was nothing. Sure, some old photographs and letters, but nothing else. Luke wished that he had more days to explore before he left for Hogwarts, but that morning came too soon.

"You'll be going with the Weasleys. I'm sure Ronald will introduce you to some of his good friends." Luke scowled as his Grandmother brushed some of the dust off of his jacket. "Now, I don't want you to forget anything. Are you sure you've packed all you need?" Luke nodded as she began to try straighten his curly hair. "Okay, now you head over there. I heard that Mr. Weasley rented a Ministry car. I've heard they're really roomy."

_Good, _Luke thought, _that way I don't have to sit too close to one of those imbeciles._ Finally he pushed his Grandmother's hands away. "I'll be fine." He grabbed the handle to his trunk and dragged it out the door. Kanika, also bored with Luke's Grandmother's antics, trotted after him, her tail held high, showing her rear to the old woman.

The whole way there, Luke stared out the window, Kanika on his lap. Ron and Ginny babbled to each other and their parents, but Luke wasn't interested in their talk. He supposed it would have ended up better if he had talked to one of them, because when they got to the station and onto the train, Ron and Ginny both ignored him. Ron went off with Potter and the bushy-haired girl into a compartment full of other people, and Ginny walked off with this odd girl who read a magazine upside-down. Luke was alone in the hall, Kanika by his heels when a boy walked up and offered him to stay in his compartment. By the boy's look, Luke could tell he was a Malfoy. Luke shrugged, and followed him into the compartment.

"Who's that?" Luke glared at the overweight boy, obviously a Goyle. Luke knew that both Goyles and Crabbes were loyal friends to the Malfoys, but he didn't need to know that, because as soon as Goyle asked, Malfoy glared, and the pudgy boy averted his eyes. There were four other people in the compartment, Crabbe and Goyle, of course, and then a Parkinson, and a Zabini. Malfoy looked towards Luke and immediately everyone else's eyes peered at him also.

Without such a stutter, Luke met their gazes. "Luke Thynne."

Once he had said his name, Malfoy sat down and indicated that Luke should sit next to Zabini. He pointed out everyone, "Next to you is Blaise Zabini, then Pansy Parkinson, that's Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe." He faced Luke and smirked. "And I'm Draco Malfoy. What brings a Thynne to Hogwarts?"

Damn, Luke hated that smirk. Did all Malfoys smirk like they knew everything? "What is a Malfoy doing at Hogwarts?" He retorted, ignoring the question.

"Unlike you, Thynne, my father _attended_ Hogwarts. From what I heard, your father didn't." Malfoy sneered, his smirk growing.

"Since you're so smart, Malfoy, you should brush up on some more of your subjects. Have you heard a lot of my mother?" Luke looked quite smug. "She _did_ attend Hogwarts. Unfortunately for your father, he never met her, because your father graduated _before_ she did."

"Not like it matters anymore, does it? My father's already outlived your mother's lifespan, now hasn't he?"

"And? At least my mother didn't stay Voldemort's ferret for too long, did she?" Luke grinned smugly. He knew he had hit a soft subject when he mentioned ferret. He had overheard the Weasley boy mentioning the time when Draco was transfigured into one. Yes, he had touched a soft spot.

Draco's eyes grew wide. "You bloody imbecile! I--"

"No no... I'll just excuse myself, your ferretness." Luke flashed a smirk at Draco before stepping out into the hall, Kanika in his arms.

**Ferret 3136**: I suppose it's not all that good... I've been writing it for awhile. Chappie's kind of long, but I tried to split it in a nice place without making it too short. Like, no like? Tell me!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Evile JK Rowling owns all of my little babies! Except for Luke, that sexy bastard is mine.

** > > > > > >**

It hadn't taken Luke too long to find another compartment. Inside of it were three girls, all third-years, they had informed him. The first one, obviously the leader of the three, was blonde and skinny, but flat-chested, just like most of the girls her age. Her face was covered in make-up and she wore a mini-skirt and flip-flops. The other two girls weren't quite as dressed up as her, but they looked better for it. Both of them were just as skinny, one red-headed and the other a brunette, and wore similar outfits. He spent the rest of the trip listening to them giggle about the "hot" boys that they had met over the summer. The brunette kept on giving Luke glances, and every time that he met her gaze she would blush. Damn, he hated this. After a while the talk had moved towards him, and the red-head gave him advice on the houses.

Her name was Sarah Young and she was a Hufflepuff. She mentioned that no one would recommend becoming one, but she found that she belonged there. Sarah mentioned the other three houses, and the rival between Slytherin and Gryffindor. She did mention not to worry about which house Luke ended up in, the Sorting Hat would choose for him. So Luke took her advice and didn't become worried. It's not like he was in the first place.

When it came time for them to change into their Hogwarts robes, Luke left and went into the bathroom to change. When he was finished changing he stood outside the compartment door waiting for the girls to allow him back inside. They took an awful long time, considering that the outfit wasn't really that complicated.

Once he was let back inside the compartment he noticed that Kanika looked irritated. The girls were petting her and messing with her collar, and her fur, usually neatly groomed, was in all directions. When her patience died, she snapped at the blonde, and all three girls backed off. Luke sat down next to Kanika and then she contently closed her eyes and purred once more as his hand stroked her fur.

After ten more minutes of riding in the train, they had arrived at Hogwarts. Luke got onto the horseless carriages with the same three girls, the brunette still blushing extremely. It was a short trip to the castle and he stared at it blankly. Of course he was excited, but he hoped that his last two years of schooling weren't as bad as they could be.

Along with all of the students he filed into the Great Hall. Kanika wasn't interested in the ceremony of the Sorting Hat, and once she had seen something scurry under a table, she was off. Luke glanced around, deciding which table looked more promising to sit at. Neither of them at the moment did... Slytherins were too sneaky, Gryffindors were full of imbeciles, Hufflepuffs were too loyal... and well, Ravenclaws, too booky. He was glad when a stern woman lead him out of the Great Hall and into a corridor.

"Luke Thynne?" She asked, her spectacles gleaming from the light coming from the candelabra nearby. Luke nodded. "Good, you'll just have to wait with these students and when I come back in, you'll just follow these students out with me and be sorted." Luke nodded again. "Good, I heard you were a smart boy, just stay here for now." Luke watched her retreat back into the Great Hall, her shoes click on the stone floor. He turned around to face the group of small children, their eyes wide.

One stepped forward, defiance in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here? You're not eleven!"

Luke grinned. "Oh, what makes you say that?"

"You're much too bloody tall to be eleven."

Luke looked him up for size. He had to be under five feet, with scrawny legs, and buggy eyes. "And? I've seen plenty of tall eleven year olds. You just happen to be short."

A few in the group giggled. "I'm not short, fool! Hell, you just happen to be tall on the outside, I'm tall on the inside!"

Luke lifted his eyebrows. "Is that so? From what I can tell your britches are just a bit too big."

The boy scowled, crossing his skinny arms over his chest. "You stop being so prudent! I swear I'll--"

The boy was interrupted by the reappearance of the woman. She held a finger to her lips, "Shh, now enter quietly, all of you." She gave a meaningful look at the skinny boy, who just glared back.

Inside the Great Hall was silent, and Luke got a good plenty of looks. He literally towered over the small First Years. He looked over the room again, sizing up who would give him trouble this year. He found Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table, noticing the seething hatred coming from his eyes. He also noticed Ron and his two friends sitting at the Gryffindor table and at the Hufflepuff table he noticed the red-head, Sarah. He sighed and ignored the Sorting Hat as he sung about the four houses of Hogwarts and a whole load of other bullshit. Then the sorting ceremony began. Basically children, one-by-one, came up and tried on the enormous hat. After... three seconds to maybe five minutes the hat would scream out a house name. After thirty minutes, Luke was the only one standing out there, and most every eye was on him. That's when an elderly man with a long beard stood up. Dumbledore.

"Today we're lucky enough to have an exchange student from the Academy of Magic come to stay here for his remaining two years of schooling." Luke scowled, _Thanks for reminding me that I have two more years, Dumbledork._ "All of the staff has heard great things about this student, his grades and his behavior included," _Bullshit, _Luke thought. "and we hope that you all get to know him well and show your best behavior." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "At least for the first month, everyone."

Dumbledore then sat down and the stern woman stood up once more, her eyes on Luke also. "Thynne, Luke." Luke had nothing to lose. He took one more glance at the group of kids spread around the four long tables and then walked up to the stool.

_Hello Luke... got a lot of thinking in your mind, don't you?_

Luke held his breath. A hat was talking to him... inside of his head.

_Surprised? I just sung about thirty minutes ago and now you're surprised that I'm talking to you? I'd think you'd be smarter, Luke. I know your mother was in Slytherin, poor soul, things could have turned out differently, couldn't they have? Ah, of course then you wouldn't be here right now, would you? Now I know you don't want to hang around a bunch of loyal people all day... besides, you're not even loyal. The question is, which of the other three houses do you fit in most? Bravery is in your heart, but deception in your mind. And wit, you definitely have that, but I'm not quite sure about brains... but we all know that Dumbledore just said you have that, and I know it's in your head somewhere. _

And I hear this secret wish... "Put me in Slytherin... put me in Slytherin." but then I hear this shouting, "Not with the bloody Malfoy... Not with the bloody Malfoy." Well... that's going to be difficult, now isn't it? Sorry, mate, but you belong in Slytherin.

Luke's mind screamed desperately, _No, please, hat, not Slytherin! _

Making a choice, now are we? A Thynne not letting fate happen? That's odd, I oddly remember your mother's mind saying "Just put me where I belong." Are you going to choose or let me choose? Which way could be better for your future? You will succeed in Slytherin, unlike your mother. Your mother, well, either house would have been a terrible fate. She was doomed to begin with. You, though, have a choice. Choose wisely.

Why Slytherin?

Ah, well, first off, you fit it. You have more wit that intelligence, along with cunning desires to win at everything. Does that sound like a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw? Not to me. Your kind is in Slytherin, sure they won't be your friends, but they're your kind.

So you're saying that I best stay where I belong and be who I'm not so I can be who I am?

Perhaps Ravenclaw does fit you, boy, since you seem to have figured that out. But alas, like I said before, you belong in Slytherin. Unless you want to choose...?

No. Luke gulped, _You're a professional. _

That I am, Luke, that I am.

"So, Thynne, finally made the choice to go where the best of the best are?" Malfoy gave Luke a humorous smirk, no emotion from the last encounter on his face.

"I just let what was destined to happen, happen." Luke answered, moving mashed potatoes around his plate. Oddly he wasn't hungry, it had been a few days since his last good meal. His Grandmother couldn't cook.

"I hear you're living with your Grandmother, kind of like Longbottom, eh?" Pansy remarked, shoving a whole fork-full of lamb in her mouth.

Malfoy laughed. "I suppose so, but Longbottom's Grandmother isn't as skilled in the Dark Arts as Thynne's, is she?"

Luke smirked. "Longbottom? Sounds like a crazy last name. And no, my Grandmother isn't skilled in the Dark Arts... she's a bit off."

"Is anyone's Grandmother on anything anymore?" Zabini laughed.

Luke enjoyed his dinner. Much more than he expected. No one mentioned the earlier conversation or anything. It seemed weird, but it kind of felt right. As if even if something did happen, it really _didn't._ And the Sorting Hat was right, he did belong here. He didn't like having his emotions fall in front of his relationships with people and the way the Slytherins handled things like that, well, they suited him. Most of dinner he spent talking, since his stomach was acting up, and once it was over with, he followed the group of Slytherins down to the dungeons. Luke saw Kanika catching up with the group, a look of happiness. She had definitely caught herself dinner.

"I'd prefer not to call them dungeons," Pansy said as Luke walked beside her. "I mean, they're so much nicer than anything else. It's easier to sneak out, no one patrols down in the dungeons, and being Slytherin, and all, we know our way around down here better. I'll show you around sometime..." She gave him a meaningful glance, a soft smile, and a wink.

Pansy was certainly right. Luke liked the coolness of the dungeons, even though it was nearing 30° C during mid-day that day, it felt like it was only 10° C down there. He hung around in the common room for about an hour, lounging in a leather armchair and talking with some other Slytherins. He looked up at the clock on the deep mahogany mantle, noticing that it was nearing 9:00 PM, and he had none of his stuff unpacked or anything. As he headed down the stairs, Kanika rose from her spot on the couch, and followed him.

The dormitory was roomy, gleaming with the glow of new candles in the candelabras on the stone walls. On one wall all of the trunks were stacked, and Luke picked out his and dragged it over to a mahogany four-poster on the other side of the room. He noticed that all of the sheets were Slytherin colors, silver and green. For the first time, he noticed that the collar he had gotten Kanika also was silver and green. _Odd coincidence_, he thought.

He unpacked everything except for his clothes. He set his cauldron beside his bed, dumping his books into it along with some scales he had to buy. On top of that he dropped his new bag, which had his ink and quills in. Satisfied that he had at least unpacked some stuff, he kicked off his shoes and collapsed on his bed, his hands behind his head. Damn, he bloody hated school and now he was back again. This time he could start out new... except for the fact that the Slytherins would spread rumors. He shrugged to no one in particular. It's not like he cared.

He was drifting off to sleep when he felt a furry form settle by his side. Kanika. She obviously seemed satisfied, he could hear her licking her chops and he also felt her purring against his thigh. He wasn't sure if they both had the same kind of day.

In the morning Luke woke up to Kanika attacking his leg. He rolled over and kicked her off. She growled and hissed and then trotted off to find breakfast. Luke, still not convinced that he had had enough sleep, rolled over and hugged his pillow. But then he noticed that no one else was in the room. He had been left!

Rolling out of bed he smoothed down his robes (which he had fallen asleep in) and tried to straighten his tousled hair. He did manage to look slightly un-bum-like before he ran out of the room, his bag on his shoulder.

That's when he noticed the clock on the mantel. It was only 8:10 and classes didn't start until 9:00. Sighing he ran back upstairs and got ready. The shower and the clean clothes made a huge difference for his appearance, and he was glad, he didn't want to look like the buffoon that was late the first day of classes. Luke's hair was still wet when he up the stairs to the Great Hall. Good thing the Slytherin dorms were so close to the Great Hall, otherwise he wasn't sure he'd make it to breakfast each day.

Setting his bag down, he noticed that only about half of the students from yesterday were still eating. Luke saw Ron sitting over with a few other Gryffindors, still pigging out on bacon and eggs, but otherwise he saw no one he knew, but a few odd Slytherins he had met last night but had forgotten their names. Sighing, he sat on the bench and began to load up a golden plate with biscuits and gravy.

On the other side of the hall, Ron looked at Luke. Ron had known from the start that Luke would be a Slytherin. The attitude, the hair, the... look. Everything about Luke screamed Slytherin. Ron smiled smugly. He usually got people's characters correct. He knew Harry would be a good person... although Hermione had turned out to be a lot more fun than he had thought she would be. But he never thought of her as a Slytherin. Luke's name brought Ron out of his trance.

"That new kid's name is Thynne right?" Hermione asked Ron, who had too much food in his mouth to do anything but nod. "Well, I was thinking, since most Slytherins are full-bloods, and his obviously has that look of smugness of a pure-blood, I'd look up his last name and see where his family originated from."

Harry swallowed what was in his mouth, "And have you?"

"No, not yet... but lately there have been rumors going around about his past. Apparently he moved here to start over. Both of his parents were killed by Voldemort."

"You're kidding me?" Ron said, almost spitting out the pancake he had just shoveled into his mouth.

"Well... I'm not kidding you about the rumors. You know rumors aren't always true. Of course there's other rumors I've heard lately."

"You should stop hanging around Parvati and all of them." Harry said, glancing at Luke, who at the moment, seemed awfully boring and normal.

"Harry, they're not the only ones hearing the rumors. Besides, they told me they didn't make this up. Parvati's sister Padma heard the rumors straight from a Slytherin herself."

Ron swallowed the rest of his pancake, "So, what other rumor did you hear?"

"His parents worked for Voldemort... which confuses me."

Ron grinned inwardly. He was always right about a person's character.

"Wait, that makes no sense," Harry interjected. "I thought you said his parents were killed by Voldemort."

"They were."

"Then why? I mean, the two of them worked for Voldemort."

"How am I supposed to know? No one told me anything yet," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "If I had known anything more about that little issue I would have told you."

Ron ignored her eye-rolling. "So, anything else?"

"Well... I heard some strange rumor that he lit his uncle on fire."

"Wicked!"

It was official. Luke had been living and studying at Hogwarts for two months now and Halloween was nearing. Only a few odd things had happened so far... considering the fact that his grandmother would send some strange owls, things about how the underground lab exploded or that she had a new neighbor who spoke Japanese and ate squirrels. Usually Luke read the messages to get a bit of amusement, but then he started to think that perhaps his Grandmother was going... crazy.

Then, of course, there was when Moaning Myrtle (Luke had gotten to know her when he had hidden in her bathroom to escape the clingy brunette Third Year) clogged all of the toilets with toilet paper to get attention and the corridors flooded. Unluckily the Slytherins had to be out of their dormitory for a full-day so Filch could clean up the mess. The whole Sunday turned out to be very interesting for Luke, he spent his days around the castle discovering different secret passages. Kanika thought he was foolish and she spent her day chasing after the mice running out of the abandoned girls' bathroom.

Surprisingly, Luke began to enjoy being a Slytherin. He noticed that Malfoy and Zabini hung around him more often, wanting his opinions on whatnot or would ask him questions about certain occurances. Then November came, time for Quidditch tryouts.

"Thynne, you trying out?"

Luke looked up from his Potions essay. "I'm not sure, what positions are open?"

Zabini read off the positions from the paper he was holding. "You can either be a chaser or a beater."

Luke laughed. "I think I'd rather be the one inflicting injury, rather than the target." He looked at his parchment, still seven inches to fill with writing.

Malfoy walked in, smiling coyly when he noticed that Luke was writing an essay. "Fill the last few inches with pure gibberish, I bet you'll still make a good grade."

**Ferret 3136**: Whatcha think of this chappie? I'm not quite sure I like it...


End file.
